UPDATE! (A long time coming)

I haven't updated in a LONG time. Whoops. I guess that's probably because there hasn't been a whole lot new going on. Well, there is but things were not moving quite as fast for a couple of weeks there. I did some reading and evaluating for Philadelphia Young Playwrights. I still have 3 evaluations to write and a little bit of editing on one (I received a little feedback since it's my first time working for them). I have been trying to keep up with my work at the theatre, but I've also been trying to work and pay my bills. Tough stuff, especially when my job is not incredibly ideal. I am, however, going to start doing a little bit of babysitting, which will hopefully cover enough that way I can pay my bills and also take a trip to NYC before I have to come back to Iowa and still be able to eat and do a couple of fun things.

Next weekend I will get to go to the XPN Music Festival for the Theatre Alliance booth. I get in for free, which I certainly can't complain about. I volunteer for 4 hours and then can go around and see whatever music I want. Guster is playing that night, which is the only music I had heard of when I looked at the website. Hopefully I run into some fun new music while I'm there!

The plays I read for PYP were interesting. They are plays written by 11th graders. I may have mentioned them before, but I have read all 5 of the plays I received now and can say that it is actually pretty difficult for me to provide the kind of response and feedback they want. I'm not the kind to coddle, and that's really what they want. This isn't to say that all of the plays were all bad, because there were definitely some good ideas in there. One of the plays I read was actually very clever. However, I feel like it's not necessary to coddle and that you can provide constructive criticism without it being considered harsh. All we are really allowed to do is ask questions and hope they keep writing and consider our questions. I live in the world that if something doesn't work, someone says it doesn't work. I'm trying, though! It just takes me some time because my brain doesn't work in that way. I understand--they're in 11th grade and we're trying to keep them writing however we can.

Some of the work I did in the theatre included cleaning out old costumes. I found some gems, including a nice piece of fabric that may work as a wall piece or a faux headboard when I arrive back in Iowa and move into my apartment, a hat, a cardigan, a couple of skirts, and a couple of purses. That was a really fun day!

My casebook is coming along slowly. Procrastination is my worst enemy. I tend to do a lot of thinking before I start projects, however, and I have already come up with my layout. While I have nothing printed out, I have several articles, some websites, and some YouTube videos stashed away. All in all, it's a pretty decent start. I have to get working on that, though, and provide some tangible work in about a week and a half. My time is running out. It's so weird, because it seems like just yesterday I got here. I don't know where the time has gone.

Tuesday we're going to go through and finish our edits on the play we decided to tackle. Interestingly enough, a new draft of the script was sent to the theatre a couple of weeks ago. We haven't gotten to read it because we're still working on our own draft. We just have to enter the 2nd act edits and then I imagine we'll go through and read and see what we think. Maybe then we'll get to read the newly-submitted draft from the playwright.

Aside from all of my theatre work, I got to go to Winona, MN and watched The Tempest (which was phenomenal) and hung out with some of the Great River Shakespeare Festival folks. I even volunteered while I was there and made some root beer floats for the 4th of July festivities. The week before I left for MN, I went and saw Spring Awakening at the Kimmel Center. It was the same show that went through Des Moines earlier this season, but I didn't get a chance to see it then. I got a REALLY cheap ticket through Philly Fun Savers. They provide great discounts on tickets that change every week. I was up all the way in the Amphitheatre, but the view was completely unobstructed. I'm not going to lie--I cried a couple of times! It was beautiful, and so was the theatre itself.

I'm actually pretty conflicted. For a while I was really homesick. I was in Iowa for a few hours and hung out before I headed up to Minnesota. At the end of my 5 days away from Philly, I didn't really want to come back! Ever since I did get back, though, I'm finally starting to get used to it. Unfortunately, to get to that state of mind it took me two months. I only have 28 days left here in the city and I feel like it's not quite enough anymore! There's so much I still want to do on top of the things I have to do. Wish me luck in my final weeks. I really hope to savor every last minute. There are things about the city I think I could never get used to, like the scariness of the crime rate and going out alone at night is a big no-no, but I have grown close to a couple of the girls I've met here, and I'm definitely going to be sad to leave the theatre! C'est la vie!